Steam Backlog: Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Bioshock Infinite

 For Blaugust 2023's "stay motivated" week I told myself I was going to play games in my Steam backlog, but then New World decided 8/21 was the day of days to drop transmog. So no backlog games played today, but since we were still in the Bs and next on the list was Bioshock it still qualifies as a game I can cover in my Steam Backlog series!

  Bioshock is one of my all time favorite games and those that know the game probably can guess why.  Even all these years later I hesitate to spoil it for anyone.  It's a must play!  Bioshock was more of an experience than it was a game, but that is not to say the gameplay wasn't great.  This game was an amazing marriage of story telling, game play, and that final satisfying twist.

 While Bioshock was more of an experience its successor, Bioshock 2, was more of a game.  The story featured some interesting choices and like the first game I'd rather not spoil them.  There was more game here as well but I am not sure it was for the better.  Some of the "more game" took away from the story aspects of the game but it was still a great game and story.  There was also a multiplayer mode.  Why?  I don't know. It was not needed and I didn't enjoy it.

 

 The most recent Bioshock entry is Bioshock Infinite and marked the series departure from the deep sea to the skies.  Like the first two the story elements of the game are best left unspoiled.  The underlying world that they are building is just fun and the expansion into floating cities in the sky was well done.  

 Bioshock was more experience.  Bioshock 2 was more game.  Bionshock Infinite was more of both game and experience.  Infinite is one of the few games where I feel like story telling and action combat are done well together.  And there is plenty of action in infinite with mechanics that on paper seem impossible, but the game somehow pulls it off.  

 Over all if I had to stack rank the games it would be:

• Bioshock Infinite
  
• Bioshock 1
  
• Bioshock 2

 Bioshock 1 is a must play, but if you've played it you know why you likely aren't going to play it much more than that first play through.  Bioshock Infinite however is fun to jump back into as there is so much fun to be had and different ways to traverse the game.  1,2, or Infinite - all of them are worth your time!

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

A sensible view on New World transmog tokens

 New World is launching it's transmog system tomorrow and with it there is an uproar in the community.  Tokens for transmog are approximately $2.50 USD each.  Additionally players can gain them via the season pass (free track and premium track).  The New World devs also included a 1% chance to loot them from elite chests up with the caveat of you can only loot one per week.  

 It is that 1 per week / 1% drop chance that has everyone up in arms.  I could write out more thoughts on it but I snagged this summary from Reddit that will stand as my response.  Anyone reading this that still thinks AGS is being unfair is just looking to argue for arguments sake.

Steam Backlog: The Binding of Isaac

 Another week is beginning for Blaugust 2023 and as I laid out in my planning post this week it is all about playing some games in my backlog!  So... consider this post as part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts) and come back all week for more!

 Dusting off where I left the backlog we were still in the Bs (and 2023 is almost over!).  The next game up was The Binding of Isaac.

 This is a weird one.  I don't remember why I got the game and I only vaguely remember playing it originally so I decided this was one I needed to download again to write a post about.  It didn't take me long though to remember why I didn't play it much.

 The first part that throws me off is the theme of the game.  Let's just say it's not for the feint of heart.  As I have no heart... well let's continue.  No, actually lets not.  I don't like the premise or theme of the game. If you don't want to think about a mother sacrificing her child then don't play this game.

 The second part that throws me off is... well.. I'm old(er) with slow(er) reflexes and poor(er) vision.  Binding is a game that is all about fast reflexes amid tons of things going on at once.  I did get the hang of it after a bit and can see the draw in the skill ceiling the game offers. 

 BUT combine a theme I don't enjoy with gameplay that is for a younger (better?) gamer and I could not force myself to an hour of play.  I gave up after twenty or so minutes.

MMOre creators

 Blaugust 2023 marches on and for a low key Saturday post to end Creator Appreciation Week I wanted to throw up a couple MMO creators I also follow on Youtube

• Lazy Peon - https://www.youtube.com/@TheLazyPeon
• Not a fan of everything as Peon spends a lot of time in games I'd never consider, but he revisits games year over year so I find his insight on change over time very useful.
  
• Force Gaming - https://www.youtube.com/@ForceGamingYT
• Covers a lot of gaming areas but has a love for MMOs.  Always great insights and reasonably reliable to have videos up on key game events in a timely fashion.
  
• Josh Strife Hayes - https://www.youtube.com/@JoshStrifeHayes
• Josh is like a college professor and makes viewers feel at home in his classroom.  Like Peon I am not a fan of everything but there are some masterpieces in his channel like his recent reflection on his own content fro three years ago: Why Modern MMO's Suck - Josh Strife Hayes Reacts (I'd recommend any MMO nerd like me to check it out)
  

Podcasts I Listen To

 For Blaugust 2023 Creator Appreciation Week I wanted to share the podcasts I am currently listening to and fair warning; I listen to A LOT of podcasts (2x speed baby!).

Tech and News

• This Week in Tech
• The Screensavers TV show defined the tech nerd that I am today.  Decades later I am still listening to Leo Laporte on This Week in Tech which is now an entire company with many tech-centric shows and podcasts.
  
• Up First by NPR
• My daily news podcast
  
• The Indicator
• From NPR; covers news through the lens of indicators like government jobs reports
  
• Planet Money
• From NPR; covers all sorts of topics in the news through an economic lens
  
• POD Save America
• A no-bullshit conversation about politics.
  

Misc

• Business Wars
• Nintendo vs Sony?  Google vs Apple?  Crypto Wars? Listen to how businesses fight/fought it out.  One of my favorites.
  
• Freakonomics Radio
• Born from the Freakonomics books. This podcast will change how you think about the world.
  
• Serial
• Broken into seasons; Season 1 is stellar.  2-5 are still worth a listen.
  
• Writing Excuses
• Authors, including Brandon Sanderson sometimes, talk shop about writing books; mostly Sci Fi and Fantasy.
  
• Fish Nerds
• Whether you are fly fishing in a stream getting those ankles wet or deep in the ocean casting nets; fish nerds, fish nerds.  It's a podcast.  Just for the halibut.  All things fish, fishing, and eating fish (and the catchiest intro song)!
  
• Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
• Dan Carlin doesn't post often but when he does it is an event. Get ready for 6+ hour episodes covering all sorts of historical eras.  His various series around WW2 are masterpieces.
  

Gardening Podcasts

• You Bet Your Garden
• Mike Mcgrath is old as the dirt in his garden and has been hosting the You Bet Your Garden radio show forever.  The call in radio show is available as a podcast.
  
• The Beet (formerly Epic Gardening)
• Almost daily short gardening episodes
  
• The joe gardener show
• Joe L from Growing a Greener World on PBS has a podcast; great for gardening topics
   

Green Bay Packers

• Bleeding Green and Gold
• Father/son recapping Packers games.
  
• Blue 58
• Weekly podcast that covers all things Packers; durinjg the season and offseason.
  

Gaming Podcasts

• Massively OP Podcast
• All things MMORPGs.
  
• New World to Go
• The only New World podcast still standing.  Wish they would get back to regular episodes though; I miss BDLG and Redbyrd!  
  
• The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast
• Tabletop games and just a great group of folks talking games.
  
• The Battlefield Show
• Keeps me current on BF 2042 and future BF games
  
• HBO's The Last of Us Podcast 
• I can't rant at the end of the world without first listening to the podcast to go with each episode of HBO's TV show "The Last of Us".  Gaming because its all based on a game.
  

Favorite "one time" Podcasts

• S-Town
• My all time favorite podcast series.  This is a roller coaster of a story and an emotional ride.
  
• Spellcaster
• At top of mind considering the crypto boom and bust; covers the story of Sam Bankman Fraud (SBF)
  
• Welcome to Dreamtown: Adelanto 
• Listing due to it being recently released and I really enjoyed it.  Story of a small town and mary J.
  
• HBO's Chernobyl Podcast
• HBO's Chernobyl mini series is an amazing show to watch.  The podcast is a perfect companion and I highly recommend it to anyone that watched the show.
  

Content Creator Drama: Linus Tech Tips

 I was going to write a long Blaugust 2023 post today about the Linus Tech Tips (Linus Media Group) drama, but I decided against it.  Sometimes "content creators" grow up to become companies and to no one's surprise (except maybe Linus') a company cannot operate like a "content creator".  So much respect lost for LTT in the past week and their apology video (not going to honor them with a link) was the straw that broke me (seriously; sponsor jokes!? WTF!).

 So... I did the one thing I had in my power to do that actually means anything in this situation. 

Fin.

Knightni and Me (video)

 Just dropping a link to Knightni's video where we steam rolled PvP arenas in New World.  Enjoy!

NEFFEX

 I wanted to use Creator Appreciation Week for Blaugust 2023 to hit some areas adjacent to my current areas.  One of those adjacent areas was music; specifically music that is made for and encouraged for content creators to use.  NEFFEX is one of those musical talents contributing to the greater content ecosystem and is a favorite for many video game content creators.

 NEFFEX produces copyright free songs (a mix of metal/rock/rap) and actively encourages content creators to make use of them (as they say in every video description: CREATORS - DOWNLOAD AND USE THIS SONG COPYRIGHT-FREE).  I first ran into them watching some New World PvP video montages.  Their song Tough really fits the theme of PvP action.  Tough is also my favorite NEFFEX song; take a listen below.

 If you are in search of music for a video NEFFEX has hundreds of songs for you to choose from; give them a listen.

D(ee)PS on the war leaderboard

 Went to war in New World last night.  Got in my DPS (aka deeps) but ultimately couldn't nab many kills and we lost the war.  Good learning experience though.

HUNTgaming

 I have been dabbling in Way of the Hunter recently and wanted to share my favorite Way of the Hunter content creator for Blaugust 2023 Creator Appreciation Week.  That creator is HUNTgaming on Youtube.

 What I like about his content is that he has a near perfect blend of comedy and game content.  Even when he is doing a guide I end up laughing out loud.  One of his most recent videos featuring the new Africa map is a classic.  Rubber duck? Swimming pool? Love it! Check the video out below and if you are playing Way of the Hunter or just want a few laughs check him out.